Arte Italia Cultura

 

 

Gill Miller grew up in the American mid-west in the 1960’s and 70’s. He comes from a lineage of artists and interior designers. Art was never far from his mind and influence, even in subtle ways. However, art was not a major influence in much of the mid-west in that time period. The culture there did not crave it, or promote it. It is conservative, with its values rooted in the farming community. He studied art and design at the University of Kansas, in Lawrence. And while the basic curriculum was sound, it was not adventurous or experimental.

 

Gill moved to California, Los Angeles in late 2003, where the culture is completely different than in Kansas. The arts were, and are, exploding with an infusion of artistic expression coming from not only the arts community in California and the rest of the U.S., but also internationally. The culture and influences in California come from a wide variety of sources, much of it from the counter-culture movement of the 60’s. That influence is pervasive even unto this day. California is about freedom of thought, word and deed. It is about “letting it all hang out”. Los Angeles is about re-inventing what is already there. This is why Los Angeles has, and is becoming more and more, a world art center.

 

This is what influences him every day. It feeds his artistic expression, his values and his life.

Currently he is creating a series of paintings entitled “Chain Drive”, using spray acrylic, that are focused on the exploration of the round form and its relationship with the angular, the spatial qualities, and the interplay that result. Round forms are a natural extension of the rhythm and poetry that comes from using the spray, of the spraying motion, and the movement of the arm as it circles around the canvas. This offers less resistance; the movement enhances the freedom that comes with the act, and the art of painting. And interspersed with this philosophy of this series comes a variety of subjects, from space exploration to voyeurism by each other, or government, to the role of the machine and our total dependence. These are subjects that are of great interest to Gill. He thinks about these things on a regular basis on some level.

 

He has exhibited in numerous exhibitions in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the last five years. In 2012 he produced a number of paintings for a short film for AFI, American Film Institute, located in Los Angeles. That film was about an art gallery owner going through some difficult life changing times. The same could be said about Gill and his transformation to an artist, who is passionate about his craft and how the arts influence the world around him.